Music educational appaliance



March 5, 1929. E. E. scovlLL MUSIC EDUCATIONAL APPLIANCE Filed oct. 26. 1926 Patented Mar. 5, 1929.

PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD E. SCOVILL, OF AUBURN, NEW YORK.

MUSIC EDUCATIONAL APPLIANCE.

Application filed October 26, 1926.

This invention relates to an educational appliance for teaching mus' a adapted to be used in public schools and analogous places where it is necessary to instruct the pupils in class, but it will be evident that the same apparatus may be used by private teachers for the instruction of in ilividuals in the fundamental or underlying principles of music.

The main object is to provide a simple device whereby the pupil may be taught to read music in groups or phrases in a stafll under different clef, key, and time signatures as distinguished from the usual method of teaching the meaning of the dierent individual notes in different positions on the staff and separateinstruction in the meaning of the different symbols indicating the different clefs, different keys and different time indicia.

One of the specific objects is to provide a series of reversible and invertible cards having obverse and reverse sides bearing the usual live staff lines, one of said cards having upon its opposite sides different clef signals, another card having upon its opposite sides difr ferent key signatures, another one or more of the cards bearing upon its opposite sides different time signatures while the remaining cards bear upon their opposite sides groups of notes differently positioned on the staff so that by inverting and reversing either card, four different groups of notes may be presented for instruction.

Another object is to provide the device with measure bars which may be adjusted to different positions along the staff for including a greater or less number of the notes of the several cards between them.

Anotherl object is to enable all of the measure bars to be adjusted to and from a position across the staffs of the several note cards so that when displaced the cards may be more conveniently interchanged, reversed. and inverted or overlapped one upon the other.

Another object is to provide the apparatus with means for supporting the several cards in such manner that their respective staff lines will be horizontally alined.

A further object is to enable the cards to be used upon the display board or support for tone drill and contrasts. motive drill and tone drill and contrasts. motive drill and contrasts. phrase drill and contrasts, accent, beat and measui drill and contrasts, rhythm drill and contra s, tetrachord and chord drill and contrasts. all contributing to expedite sight recognition and reading of various groups Serial No. 144,258.

under their beat signatures as to clef, key and time and also facilitating the singing of the music language in a manner somewhat parallel to 'the sight recognition of a spoken language.

This device may also be used to indicate at will any change of position, key, scale, beat of the tone group, motif, measure, phrase, accent and also the measure position of the tone group and change of rhythm.

Furthermore by the use of this device the measure may be shortened or lengthened or the speed may be increased or diminished at will.

Other objects and uses relating to specific parts of the device will be brought out in the following description.

In the drawings Figures l and f2 are obverse and reverse face views of a music educational appliance showing a. limited number of cards adapted to be used in connection therewith.

Figure 3 is a transverse, vertical. sectional view of the same device, partly broken away.

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view, partly broken away, taken in the plane of line 4,-4, Figure 3.

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken on line 5.5, Figure l.

As illustrated, this appliance comprises a display board A- of any suitable height or length convenient for handling and transportation from one place to another but ca-V pable of receiving and supporting edge to edge an indefinite number of cards such, for example, as the clef card -l, a key card -2-, a time card 3- and any suitable` number of note cards 1l- 5- and 6 each bearing upon its opposite faces different musical indicia hereinafter more fully described.

The display board '-A- is provided along its lower edge with a horizontal ledge -7- having a lengthwise groove Sq adapted to receive the lower edges of the cards and to support said cards in an upright position restingr against the back portion A-.

This display board is preferably of considerably greater length than height and is provided near its upper edge with opposite end brackets -9- secured thereto by screws -10- and projecting forwardly beyond thc front face thereof for receivingand guiding the opposite ends of a vertically movable lengthwise bar -l1- carrying a plurality of. in this instance, four spacing barsk 12 shown more clearly in Figures 1, 3, i and 5.

A rock shaft 13 is journaled in suitable bearings 1don the back of the board A near the upper edge thereof and is provided at its opposite ends with forwardly projecting arms 15 rigidly secured thereto and adapted to nieve vertically in close proximity to the outer faces of the brackets 9 the front ends of said arms being slotted or bifurcated at 1G to receive the adjacent ends of the lengthwise bar 11 The brackets Q are provided near their front ends with vertical slots 17 in which the adjacent ends of the bar 11 are movable to and from a position in front of the upper edges of the cards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 when the latter are resting in the groove 8 of the ledge 7 and permitting said cards to be more easily removed by hand when the bar 11 is elevated to the position shown by dotted lines in Figure 3.

The portions of the bar 11 passing through the brackets Q and a 1ms 15 are preferably cylindrical but the remaining portions between the brackets Q are angular or fiat in cross section.

The upper ends of the measure bars l2- are slightly elongated lengthwise of the bar 11 and are provided with angular sockets therethrough corresponding to the cross sectional area of the bar 11 for receiving said bar and permitting the measure bars 12 to move therewith.

One end of the bar 11 outside of the corresponding arm 15 is provided with a handle 18 by which the entire bar with the measure fingers 12 thereon may be elevated along the slots 17 and rotated to shift the measure fingers 12 to and from a position across the front faces of the cards or from the position shown by full lines inV Figures 1 and 3 to the positions shown by dotted lines in the same figures.

The cards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are of uniform height slightly greater than the distance between the ledge 7 and rod 11 when the latter is in its normal down position whereby the rod which extends along the front face of the cards near the upper edge thereof cooperates with the front edge of the ledge 7 in holding the cards against forward displacement, permitting trem to be displayed by hand from the top forwardly and downwardly by simply lifting the rodV 11 upwardly to the upper end of the slot 17 and then rocking said rod about its axis to move the fingers above the horizontal plane of the shaft 13 As previouslv stated the measure fingers 12 are looped around the flat support-ing bar 11 to hold the fingers and bar against relative rotation and also to permit the measure lingers to be shifted along the bar and, therefore, along the staff on the cards for varying the length of the measures or numor all of the cards to be divided into similar or different groups of two or more not-es in each group.

The same notes, either with or without the accompanying' clef, lreyr and time symbols may, by the adjustment of the bars 5 be divided into a large variety of different tone groups or phrases designated by as many different musical terms, all `of which may be readily imparted to the pupil under proper instruction with the result that the pupil learns to read music languages in groups or phrases of various rhythms in a manner very similar to the reading of the spoken language and at the same time obtains a more accurate conception of each tone by reason of its association with other tones of any group.

After a sufficient amount of'drill has been given upon the various groupings and phrasings of one particular,display of tones under specic clef, key and time signatures, any one of rthese signatures may be changed by simply reversing its corresponding card and the tonal grouping instruction carried on as before in different groupings of the same notes under the changed clef, key or time or under changes of all of these signatures.

After suiheient instruction has been given in the grouping ofthe same notes under one display, either one or all of the cards may be reversed end for end for displaying a different combination of notes which may, by the adjustmentof the bars 12 be also divided into a large number. of different groups under the same or dierent clef, key or time signatures.

In addition to the reversal' of any one or all of the cards for displaying different combinations of notes one or more or all of the cards may be inverted to display the groups of notes on either face and thereby to produce still further and different combinations of notes, it being understood that, as illustrated, the staff lines are arranged substantially midway between the lowerandupper edgesof the cards so that when any one card is inverted or reversed its staff lines will register with those of the remaining cards.

It will also be evident that under theconstruction described the cards may be overlapped or interchanged to produce other different combinations which may also be divided into various groups by proper adjustment of the bar 5 It is evident that cards bearing different time symbols may be substituted for r superposed upon those shown and that other tone cards bearing different groups of notes may be substituted vfor orvupon those shown and, when necessary, cards bearing different notes,

time or eletl symbols may be placed Whereever necessary along the staff in proper association with any note of any group Within the scope of my invention which contemplates the use of cards bearing the most important individual tone groups and other musical indicia Within the musical nomenclature and too numerous to herein illustrate or describe.

IVhat I claim s:-

In a. music educational appliance, a staff bearing element, a guide extending along said element, and bars adjustable along the guide for varying the length of the measures on the staff, said bars being removable endwise from the guide, and means for moving thc guide about an aXis for simultaneously shifting the bars to and from a position across the stall'.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set 20 

